131 



tassel and silk by the 1st of August (see PL XXII, fig. 1). Corn in this 

 condition will receive the great majorit}^ of the eggs deposited by the 

 moths which otherwise would be placed on the cotton plants. In 

 planting cotton in the spring leave vacant strips across the field every 

 200 or 300 feet sufficiently Avide for planting 10 or 12 rows of corn. 

 Under favorable conditions of rainfall and with good cultivation, 

 Mexican June corn planted by June 1 will be in prime silking condi- 

 tion b}^ August 1. The corn should be allowed to mature and may be 

 harvested in the usual way. Corn should not be planted in belts 

 through the cotton field at the usual time in the spring. With the 

 ripening of the corn the insects simpl}^ turn their attention to the 

 adjacent cotton (see PL XXII, fig. 2). The planting of cowpeas in 

 the trap corn belts is strongly recommended. Peas planted soon after 

 the corn crop is up will ordinarily be in full blossom by early August 

 and will serve to furnish the moths with an abundance of nectar for 

 food, thus obviating the necessity of their visiting the adjacent cotton 

 plants and the consequent deposition there of a certain proportion of 

 their eggs. Much the same protection may be secured by the plant- 

 ing of late corn here and there over the plantation after such early 

 maturing crops, as wheat, oats, etc. In all cases peas should be 

 planted in the corn. The greatest benefit will result from the use of 

 corn as a trap crop, when it is generally adopted by the planters of a 

 neighborhood. On large plantations it is perfectly practicable to 

 grow late corn in such a manner as to attract the bollworm& from the 

 plantation generally. 



ARSENICAL POISONS. 



It is the general belief among cotton planters that the bollworm 

 msij not be successfully poisoned on cotton, from the fact of its bor- 

 ing to the interior of bolls and squares and there feeding out of reach 

 of insecticidal substances. Such belief is true only of the later stages 

 of the larva. A newly hatched bollworm is so small a creature that 

 it does not usually attract the attention of the average observer (see 

 PL III, fig. 2), and the habits of the insect during this early larval 

 existence are not generally taken into account. This unobserved 

 period in the growth of the larva is about the only time during which 

 poisons may be expected to exert an}^ considerable influence in its 

 control. 



As has been elsewhere pointed out, the deposition of the eggs over 

 the cotton plant and the habits of the newly hatched insect have an 

 important bearing on the possibility of poisoning. Larvae hatching 

 from eggs placed on other parts of the plant than the tender growing 

 tips, squares, and flowers, which are ordinarily soon penetrated, must 

 spend some time in crawling around in search of tender food. Dur- 

 ing this aimless wandering of from several hours to a day or more, 



